Red Wings need to solve their Pekka Rinne problem in Game 5 to keep season alive

AP PhotoNashville goaltender Pekka Rinne has stopped more than 94 percent of the shots the Red Wings have taken in the first four games of their opening-round playoff series

DETROIT – If the Detroit Red Wings want to stage an
improbable comeback and win their playoff series with the Nashville Predators,
there's one thing more than any other they absolutely have to accomplish.

Rinne, the Predators' veteran goaltender, has been outstanding
in leading his team to a 3-1 lead in the best-of-7 series entering Game 5
Friday night in Nashville.

Rinne made a combined 81 saves in Games 3 and 4 as
the Predators won both at Joe Louis Arena to take control of the series.

He's turned in the type of performance that makes the entire
team look good.

"There's a whole
bunch of mistakes on the other side," said Red Wings coach Mike Babcock. "But
they're nullified. You don't even know who made them because the goalie put his
pad down."

Rinne has stopped more than 94 percent of the shots he's faced
in the series and knowing that he's got their backs allows gives the Predators
confidence and allows them to take more chances.

The Red Wings have only scored more than two goals once – in
a 3-2 victory in Game 2 last Friday in Nashville – and in the other three
outings they've been held to a combined five goals.

"We have to keep believing in what we do," said Detroit
defenseman Niklas Kronwall. "A lot of times, we're making him really good. He's
one of the best goalies in the league. We knew that coming into this series. We
haven't capitalized on our chances, simple as that.

"We're not scoring. You're not going to win any games if you're
not scoring."

The Red Wings were one of the NHL's best 5-on-5 offensive teams
during the regular season – they ranked third in goals among 30 clubs in those
situations – but they've only managed to score three times in the playoffs while
both teams were at full strength.

Another Detroit goal against Nashville came during a 4-on-4
while the other four were during power plays. The Red Wings' 21 opportunities
with a manpower advantage, by the way, led all playoff teams entering Wednesday's
games.

Add it all up and the Red Wings are obviously getting plenty
of chances.

So it goes back to Rinne.

"We're trying to get pucks in there and I think we are
getting pucks in there," said Henrik Zetterberg, who leads the Red Wings with
two goals. "I think we're getting there on the second chances but we can't find
really a way to get the puck behind him."

Running into hot goaltenders in the playoffs is nothing new
to the Red Wings.

Who can forget what happened when Anaheim's J.S. Giguere
caught fire in 2003?

After helping the Ducks sweep the Red Wings in the first
round, Giguere carried Anaheim – and a coach named Mike Babcock – to the Stanley
Cup Finals before losing a seven-game series to New Jersey. Giguere won the
Conn Smythe Trophy as the playoff MVP despite not hoisting the Stanley Cup.

And it started with the Red Wings.

In Game 1 that year, Giguere made 63 saves in Game 1, a
triple-overtime thriller that Anaheim won 2-1. He also won Game 4 in OT to
finish the series with a 1.24 goals-against average and .965 save percentage.

The Red Wings were victimized by another sizzling goalie the
following year, when Miikka Kiprusoff helped Calgary eliminate them in a
six-game series in the second round.

Kiprusoff pitched a pair of 1-0 shutouts in the final two games
while posting a 1.89 GAA and .942 save percentage during the series.

And in 2006, Dwayne Roloson and Edmonton sent the Red Wings
packing after the first round by winning in six games. Roloson backstopped a
4-3 double-overtime victory in Game 3 and finished the series with a 2.50 GAA
and .929 save percentage.

Now, unless the Red Wings can make a remarkable comeback,
Rinne appears on the verge of joining that club.

"We got to score to some goals," Kronwall said. "(In Game
4), if we would have capitalized on our chances, the game would have been a lot
different. The series would have been a little different as well. That's not
the case right now.

"Right now, we dug ourselves a bit of a hole but we got to
keep believing in what we do and just stay the course and stay positive. We
have to win one game."

Rinne welcomes the challenge and says the more shots he sees
the better it is for him.

"Usually, the game gets easier when you face more pucks,"
Rinne said. "It almost feels like the other team is just trying to shoot the
puck. They are trying to create rebounds and that's an area in my game that I
feel more comfortable in."